🕰️ How to Format Dates and Times Using Tokens
Formatting dates and times in your messages is key to ensuring clarity and personalization across different languages and guest touchpoints. Bookboost supports Liquid tokens for dynamic date formatting based on the guest’s reservation data and locale preferences.
What Are Date & Time Tokens?
Date and time tokens are dynamic placeholders that automatically populate reservation-based values (like check-in and check-out dates) in the correct format and language. These tokens pull from your PMS integration and update in real-time per guest.
💡 Use Cases
- Personalize messages with check-in and check-out dates
- Display full or short date formats depending on context
- Localize date and time for different guest nationalities
- Format times for shuttle services or breakfast hours
- Combine with merge tags in email, WhatsApp, or SMS campaigns
📅 Date Formatting Options
Basic Date Format
Use this for short, readable check-in and check-out dates:
Check-in: {{reservation.start|date('d M Y')}}
Check-out: {{reservation.end|date('d M Y')}}✅ Example Output
Check-in: 19 Jul 2025
Check-out: 23 Jul 2025
🌍 Full Date Format by Language
Bookboost allows formatting in different locales. Here’s how you can adjust to the guest's language.
English:
Check-in: {{reservation.start|format_date('full',locale='en')}}
Check-out: {{reservation.end|format_date('full',locale='en')}}✅ Example Output:
Check-in: Saturday, July 19, 2025
Check-out: Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Dutch (Nederlands):
Inchecken: {{reservation.start|format_date('full',locale='nl')}}
Uitchecken: {{reservation.end|format_date('full',locale='nl')}}✅ Example Output:
Inchecken: zaterdag 19 juli 2025
Uitchecken: dinsdag 22 juli 2025
🕒 Time Formatting Options
You can format times with this syntax:
{{reservation.start|format_datetime('none','short')}}Here are some common formats and what they output:
'full'→ 10:30:00 AM Coordinated Universal Time
'long'→ 10:30:00 AM UTC
'medium'→ 10:30:00 AM
'short'→ 10:30 AM
🌐 Combining Date & Time with Locales
You can combine date, time, and language formatting like this:
{{reservation.start|format_datetime('short','short',locale = 'de')}}✅ Example Output:
15.11.21, 10:30 (German format)
🎯 Best Practices
- Use
format_datewhen writing long-form dates for better readability
- Use
date('d M Y')for compact displays (e.g. on mobile or forms)
- Always preview tokens in a test message to confirm correct values
- Combine date formatting with language segmentation for a localized experience
Conclusion
Using date and time tokens in Bookboost helps personalize messages and ensures clarity across channels and languages. Whether you're sending check-in instructions or reminders, the right token format ensures your message looks great and makes sense to your guest.
📩 Please contact us through the ‘Talk to Us’ on the left Menu in the platform or through the Bookboost Support email at support@bookboost.io if you have questions or need additional support.